Load-retaining rack for open body truck



Jan. 18, 1966 KLEIN 3,229,994

LOAD-RETAINING RACK FOR OPEN BODY TRUCK Filed Sept. 24, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 18, 1966 KLElN 3,229,994

LOAD-RETAINING RACK FOR OPEN BODY TRUCK I Filed Sept. 24, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

L llfiW/G A4 5/ Jan. 18, 1966 L. KLElN LOAD-RETAINING RACK FOR OPEN BODY TRUCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 24, 1963 INVENTOR L (/DW/G KL 6711/ mmaww 4%.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,229,994 LOAD-RETAINING RACK FOR OPEN BODY TRUCK Ludwig Klein, RED. 7, R0. Box 63, Gibsonia, Pa. Filed Sept. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 311,041 3 Claims. (Cl; 280-179) This invention relates to load retaining racks mounted on open-body trucks, and more particularly to racks that are adjustable.

It is common practice to provide an open-body truck, such as a pickup truck, with a rack in the form of four corner posts, which may be connected by cross bars. Usually the posts are located in fixed positions, so it is difficult to hold small loads in place when the load is spaced from the front or the back of the truck body and therefore can move around unless tied down.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a truck body rack that is easily applied to a truck, in which the rear posts are adjustable toward and away from the front posts, in which the rear posts can readily be removed, and in which they can be clamped in any desired position along the body.

In accordance with this invention a pair of spaced parallel horizontal rails are attached to the top of the opposite sides of a truck body, preferably spaced a short distance therefrom. A shoe is slidable along each rail and carries a post support, by which a vertical post is held upright on the shoe. A cross bar is connected at its ends to the two posts. Means are provided for detachably clamping the shoes to the rails in selected positions along them to permit adjustment of the posts and cross bar lengthwise of the rails. It is preferred to form the shoes with an open bottom and to extend a clamping plate transversely beneath each rail below the shoe on that rail. In such a case one end of the plate is hinged to one side of the shoe, while manually operable means at the opposite side of the shoe provide for raising the adjoining end of the plate to clamp the plate tightly against the bottom of the rail. When the plate is loosened, the shoe can be moved lengthwise of the rail or removed from it.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is'illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a truck body provided with my adjustable rack;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on the line H-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line I[II]1 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are outside and inside views, respectively, of the assembly shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a truck has an open body 1 provided with vertical walls 2 along its opposite sides. The side walls generally are provided with outwardly projecting top flanges 3. A pair of front posts 4 may be rigidly mounted at the front end of the body, such as by inserting the lower ends of the posts in openings in flanges 3 and securing them to the side walls of the body. The upper portions of the posts are connected by a cross bar 5 that may be adjusted vertically. This arrangement is more or less standard.

Behind the front posts are two rear posts 7, usually upright channels, which likewise may be connected by a vertically adjustable cross bar 8. It is a feature of this invention that the rear posts are adjustable toward and away from the front posts so that the rear posts can be moved forward against any load that may be shorter than the truck body and that is located as far forward in the body as possible. Accordingly, the rear posts are rigidly mounted on a pair of shoes 9 that are adjustable along a pair of spaced parallel horizontal rails 10 attached to the top flanges of the truck body side walls and extending substantially the full length of the body. Although the rails may be solid or tubular, it is preferred to form them from metal channels. The bottoms of the channels are fastened to the underlying flanges 3 by bolts 11 (FIG. 4), which preferably extend through spacers 12 designed for holding the rails a short distance above the side walls of the truck body for a purpose to be described presently. As best shown in FIG. 2, it is desirable that each shoe 9 have an open bottom and fit down over the underlying rail, in which case the shoes may be formed from short lengths of inverted channels that have heavier walls than the rails.

To attach posts 7 to the shoes so that the posts will be held upright, a short bracket is welded to the top of each shoe. Each bracket has a transverse vertical wall 14, through which bolts 15 extend to fasten the lower end of a post to the bracket. The transverse wall of the bracket is braced by a side wall 16 extending lengthwise of the shoe. It will be seen that with this arrangement the shoes, rear posts and cross 'bar form a rigid rack frame that can be slid forward and backward along the parallel rails.

In order to hold this frame on the rails and also to lock it in any desired position along them, clamping means are provided. Each such means preferably includes a clamping plate 18 that extends transversely through the space beneath each rail in a location below the shoe 9 mounted on that rail. The inner end of the plate is hinged to the inner side of the overlying shoe, while the opposite end of the plate projects from the outer side of the shoe and can be drawn upward by suitable means to clamp the plate tightly against the bottom of the rail in order to hold the shoe in fixed position. The hinge connection between the clamping plate and shoe may be formed by extending the inner end portion of the plate upwardly beside the shoe and providing'it with an opening 19 to loosely receive a hook 20 projecting from the adjacent side of the shoe.

For raising the outer ends of the plates it is preferred to use a T-bolt 21 extending up through an oversize hole 22 in the projecting outer end of each plate, with the head of the bolt engaging the bottom of the plate at opposite sides of the hole. The bolt also extends up through a slot 23 formed in the outer end of a rigid forked lug 24 that projects laterally from side wall 16 of the bracket carried by the shoe. To hold the bolt in position and to pull upwardly on it so that it presses the clamping plate tightly against the bottom of the rail, a threaded hand wheel 25 is screwed on the upper end of the bolt for pressing down on the forked lug. Most suitably, the wheel does not engage the lug directly, but through an intervening sleeve 26 slidably mounted on the bolt and spacing the wheel and forked lug a fixed distance apart. When the wheel is screwed down against this sleeve, the bolt will be placed under tension, thereby pulling the clamping plate up tightly against the bottom of the rail. To provide room for operating the wheel, the forked lug may be made long enough to cause the upper end of the bolt to be inclined outwardly away from the adjacent bracket.

When it is desired to adjust the rear posts along the side rails, the two hand wheels are turned to loosen the bolts so that the clamping plates will be released from the rails. The shoes then can be slid along the rails in either direc tion. If it is desired to slide them past any central spacers 12 beneath the rails, the bolts 21 are swung out of the forked lugs 24 so that the clamping plates 18 can be moved inwardly and upwardly to unhook them from the shoes temporarily until the shoes have been slid past the spacers. The clamping plates then are reconnected to the shoes. Of course, this arrangement also permits the rear posts and shoes to be removed entirely from the rails whenever that is desirable. Usually, however, when the rear posts are not wanted at any particular time, they will be moved for- 3 ward on the rails to the front of the truck body and clamped there.

While the truck body is being loaded, the cross bar 8 connecting the rear posts can be removed so that the workman will not accidentally strike his head against it.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. An adjustable load-retaining rack for the open body of a truck, comprising a pair of spaced parallel horizontal rails, means for attaching the rails to the top of the opposite sides of a truck body in spaced relation therewith, an open bottom shoe fitting over each rail and sildable lengthwise thereof, a vertical post above each shoe, post supports mounted on the shoes for holding the posts upright, a cross bar connected at its ends to the posts, a clamping plate extending transversely beneath each rail below the shoe thereon, means for hinging one end of each plate to one side of the overlying shoe, and manually operable means at the opposite side of the shoe for raising the adjoining end of the plate to clamp the plate tightly against the bottom of the rail, whereby to permit the shoes to be held in selected positions along the rails.

2. A rack according to claim 1, in which said one end of each plate extends upwardly and is provided with an opening, and a hook projects from a side of each shoe and extends through the adjoining ing the plate to the shoe.

3. An adjustable load-retaining rack for the open body of a truck, comprising a pair of spaced parallel horizontal rails, means for attaching the rails to the top of the opposite sides of a truck body in spaced relation therewith, an open bottom shoe fitting over each rail and slidable lengthwise thereof, a vertical post above each shoe, post supports mounted on the shoes for holding the posts upright, a cross bar connected at its ends to the posts, a clamping plate extending transversely beneath each rail below the shoe thereon, means for hinging one end of each plate to one side of the overlying shoe, the opposite end of the plate projecting from the rail and provided with an opening, a bolt extending up through said opening, a rigid forked member projecting laterally from said post support above the plate and receiving the bolt, and manually operable means screwed on the upper plate opening for hingend of the bolt for pressing down against the forked member to hold-said plate up tightly against the bottom of the rail to clamp the shoe in selected positions along the rail.

References Cited by the Examiner LEO FRIAGLIA, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE LOAD-RETAINING RACK FOR THE OPEN BODY OF A TRUCK, COMPRISIG A PAIR OF SPACED PARALLEL HORIZONTAL RAILS, MEANS FOR ATTACHIG THE RAILS TO THE TOP OF THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF A TRUCK BODY IN SPACED RELATION THEREWITH, AN OPEN BOTTOM SHOE FITTING OVER EACH RAIL AND SILDABLE LENGTHWISE THEREOF, A VERTICAL POST ABOVE EACH SHOE, POST SUPPORTS MOUNTED ON THE SHOES FOR HOLDING THE POSTS UPRIGHT, A CROSS BAR CONNECTED AT ITS ENDS TO THE POSTS, A CLAMPING PLATE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY BENEATH EACH RAIL BELOW TE SHOE THEREON, MEANS FOR HINGING ONE END OF EACH PLATE TO ONE SIDE OF THE OVERLYING SHOE, AND MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS AT THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SHOE FOR RAISING THE ADJOINING END OF THE PLATE TO CLAMP THE PLATE TIGHTLY AGAINST THE BOTTOM OF THE RAIL, WHEREBY TO PERMIT THE SHOES TO BE HELD IN SELECTED POSITIONS ALONG THE RAILS. 